“I feared to insist lest I should awaken his suspicions.”
“Good! But admitting that you came to Nice, why accept hospitality in this house?”
“Micheline offered it to us,” said Jeanne.
“And even that did not make you refuse. What part do you purpose playing here? After six months of honesty, are you going to change your mind?”
Serge, behind his shelter, shuddered. Madame Desvarennes’s words were clear. She knew all.
Jeanne’s voice was indignant when she replied:
“By what right do you insult me by such a suspicion?”
“By the right which you have given me in not keeping to your bargain. You ought to have kept out of the way, and I find you here, seeking danger and already trying those flirtations which are the forerunners of sin, and familiarizing yourself with evil before wholly giving yourself up to it.”
“Madame!” cried Jeanne, passionately.
“Answer! Have you kept the promise you made me?”